The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1887-09-08

|
letin, and mother and sisters gloried IL
his dashine courage and marveled at his
wondrous escapes. Poor fellow! he hat
his weaknesses, but he had his virtues
and his friends.
| HUNTING THE DESER. EIS.
Amon, the Southern soldi rs duties
ono of tie least important toward tho
close Of the war, was that of bringing in
from the hills and forests and habita-
tions in the wilderness dcserters from
the armies and slippery conscripts who
sought to eyade tho service. The cayal-
ryman's soul delighted in this work for
awhllo. a detail for such an expedition
meant relaxation from the discipline of
the camp, exemption from the hardships
or the march, aud variety III place of
lrksomo routine. There was also o spice
of adventure, for deserters would some
times fight, though sltulking was their
main point. The writer was one of
twenty men, under tho command of O.
lieutenant, sent during the carly part of
1864 into Scott and Lake counties, in
Mississippi, on a man-hunting errand.
Game was abundant and our officer was
provided with u formidable list of those
to be run down. We took guide from
q neighboring county, whose name was
PiRue. He knew the country and he
knew the people, and he went disguised.
His disguise was ef1ectual, but his name
must be changed out of consideration
for the future. From pig to shoat was
an easy transition, though something
safer might have been found. Never
theloss, to us he was always Shoat. He
served rs faithfully as he had served his
State in the field before being wounded
and Disabled. lie was d good guide, and
hope his neighbors will not call him to
account when they read this.
FOUND UNDER THE BED.
Tho first house we visited was watched
III vain for several days. Authentic i'll
formation said there should be two do
serters thereahouts. Two Of our party
lay all night under the house listening
TO the conversation Of the inmates, but
not word was dropped Of advantage to
our quest Openly in daylight the
house was visited and diplomacy used in
vain. The women would not be led into
hetraylng their lords, but received with
Keen suspicion and reserve all our ud-
VarceS. Surrounding and searching tho
house in the small hours after midnight
only gave us orr labor for our Dqins.
Yet the men were known TO be at least
i'll communication with their E0ms S, and
our orders to take them w@re imperative.
The visible members of the household
consisted Of Il Dedriddcn old woman. two
mlddlc-nT"2 womcn, and small amy
OF white-haired sciOne. 4 second time
Hrlcs were placed under the house, auI
about midnight one Of them came to the
rendezvous and reported that he and lis
companion hal heard whispering over
head, and believed they had detected a
N"r's voice. once the house was
ID OCmnndvd.
and the women
lay we continued to
They asserted in tho
efCuSeoo terms that the whereabouts of
thor husbands was absolutely unknown
to them, and declared that they had not
seen or heard of them for months. Dis
regarding all their protestations, we pro
cecded TO turn the cabin topsy -turvy.
The scant furniture was moved and the
loft ransacked in vain. Nothing re-
manned but the bed on which the help
less old woman lay. When called upon
TO rise that it might be overhaulcd, she
wept and her daughters demonstrated
violently. They vowed that she could
not get up, and to move her would kill
her. The lieutenant approached to lift
her, when she sprang at him and attack
Ell him with the ferocity and CELEBRITY of
a ti2ress. Leaving him to defend him
self against her long talons, we tore
away the bed clothing, and under tho
boards was revealed a box-like structure
wherein lay the objects of our search.
They were wretched, cravcn-looking
creatures and shivered and whined as we
dragged their limp carcaSes out.
IN FEMALE ATTIRE.
We watched another house for DAYS
and passed small field whero two wo-
men cultivated Il crop Of corn. The man
we vented was not to be seen. The
women gave no indications that they
knew tho nature Of our errand, but
would talk at any time with apparent
frankness. The wife of the desertcr snid
that her husband had abandoned her
and that she and his sister, who lived
with her, had o hard struggle to keep the
wolf from the door. We were all but
convinced of this fact, and should have
been wholly SO but for the direct and
authentic manner in which we had been
informed to the contrary. Finally we
were compelled to abandon this case
from sheer lack Of any clew to work
| upoh' as, III spite Of constant and rigid
espionage, we made no hcadWay and
saw no suggestive action on the part of
the two women. The detective instinct
must have been utterly lacking in every
member of the squad, for we learned
sometime after that the alleged sister in
law with whom we had frequently con-
Versed, and whom we had many times
seen at work in the field, was simply the
degertor himself, clothed in one Of his
WIfes homespun gowns.
| TERRIBLE SIGHT.
Another case was that OF q ,uan who
had no family. He was shaggy,
| bearded giant and owned two old nc
8roes, who guarded him and the secret
of his haunts with q &agacity and fidelity
almost superhuman. His habit was to
lie out in the woods, seldom approach
ing the house, and the negro servants
cOntrivcd to provide for his daily sus-
tenancc III spite of all our efforts to pro-
vent it. 1t would have been easy to